Power engineer from Uttar Pradesh who considered Osama Bin Laden his 'guru' sacked

The man had also remarked that the Al Qaeda terrorist was the world's 'best junior engineer'

The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation engineer, who considered slain Al Qaeda terrorist Osama Bin Laden his 'guru' and had put the latter's photo in his office, has been dismissed from service.

According to the official sources here on Tuesday, the official, identified as Ravindra Prakash Gautam, who was a sub-divisional officer (SDO) at Nawabganj town in Uttar Pradesh's Farrukhabad district, about 250 kilometres from here, was sacked after a committee that led the inquiry into the matter found him guilty of 'misconduct' and a man of ''dirty mentality''.

The Chairman of the Power Corporation M Devraj dismissed Gautam from service on the recommendation of the departmental inquiry committee, sources said.

Gautam had, according to the sources, sought to justify displaying a photo of Laden in his office and heaping praise on the terrorist, who was hiding at a house in Pakistan's Abbottabad and was allegedly killed in an operation by US forces in May 2011.

The SDO, who had said that he considered Laden to be his 'guru', had also remarked that the Al Qaeda terrorist was the world's ''best junior engineer''.

Gautam also said that everyone was free to make anyone their idol. ''The constitution of the country gives me the right to freedom of speech and expression. There are people who consider Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, their idol,'' he had then remarked.